Improvement in draw-bars for railway-cars



A. MIDDLETON.

DRAW-BARS FOR RAILWAY CARS.

Patented on. a1. 1876.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALLEN MIDDLETON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN DRAW-BARS FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 183,958. dated October31, 1876; application filed September 18, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALLEN MIDDLETON, ofPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements inDraw-Bars, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to an improvement, fully described hereafter, inthe draw-bar coupling for which Letters Patent No. 142,492 were grantedto me on the 2d day of September, 1873.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a plan view; Fig. 2, a verticalsection of the frame of a railway-car with my improvement; Fig. 3, anenlarged view of part of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 a modification of thedraw-bar.

G is the ordinary frame of a car, and B B the bumper and coupling-heads,arranged to slide in guides on the frame in the usual manner. A is thedraw-bar, one end of which passes into one bumper-head, and the otherinto the other bumper-head, as shown in Fig. 2, a spring, m, containedin a chamber or recess in each ,head intervening between the end of thesaid recess and a nut or other enlargement on the end of the bar. Abumperspring, D, near each end of the car intervenes between the innerend of each bumper-head and a block, a, or other fixed object on theframe of the car.

In my former patent no springs m m were shown or described, the end ofthe recess in the bumper-head bearing directly against the nut or otherenlargement on the end of the draw-bar when the bumpers were pulledoutward, and the consequence of this was an abrupt shock in starting thecar. The springs m m, however, form cushions which will yield and absorbthese shocks, and permit one car to acquire a slight movement before thepulling effect is transmitted to the next car of the train. The springsm m, however, should be comparatively rigid, so that the lost motion instarting the car will not be more than an inch, or thereabout.

In carrying out my improvement I still retain the advantages describedin my former patent, as regards the transmitting of the pulling forceapplied to the coupling-head at one end of the car to the opposite endof the same in starting a train, thereby relieving the car-frame fromthe excessive strain to which it must always be subjected when thepulling force is exerted on that end of the car where the pulling takesplace. If, for instance, the coupling-head B be pulled on starting thetrain in the direction of the arrow, there will be a yielding of bothsprings m m, but not a like movement of both bumper-heads, for thetendency of the head B to move inward is resisted by the bumper-spring Dat the rear of the car, while the spring D at the front end of the carpresents no resistance to the outward movement of the head B; hence thepulling force on this head in starting the car will be imparted to therear of the frame instead of to the front, and this through an elasticmedium; or, in other words, the carframe will be subjected to a pushingforce, which has a far less detrimental efi'ect on the said frame thanwhen the latter is subjected to the usual pulling strain.

It is immaterial what' the character of the several springs may be,whether they be spiral springs, as shown, or elliptic springs or gumsprings, provided they perform the duties described.

In place of a single draw-bar, A, there may be two bars, therebyobviating the necessity of bending a single bar to escape the kingboltsof the trucks.

It will be observed, on referring to Fig. 3, that there is an internalprojection, .10, in each of the heads B and B for bearing against thespring m, which aids the springs D in absorbing the shocks resultingfrom the meeting of the heads of adjoining cars.

I claim as my invention' 1. The combination of the coupling bar or barsA, the heads B and B, springs in m and DD, all being constructed forapplication to the car-frame, and for operating substantially in themanner described.

2. The combination of the bumper-head and its internal projection .90with the draw-bar A and spring m.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name'to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALLEN MIDDLETON.

Witnesses:

HENRY HowsoN, Jr., HUBEBT HowsoN.

